


Seven Days

by surena_13



Category: The Closer
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-01-25
Updated: 2012-01-25
Packaged: 2017-10-30 02:29:33
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,225
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/326774
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/surena_13/pseuds/surena_13
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Prompt: Sharon wants to be romanced</p>
            </blockquote>





	Seven Days

_Day One, Monday_

Brenda didn’t realize something was wrong until she was almost out the door. Grateful for the fact she looked over her shoulder before she opened the door, she turned around. Sharon was still sitting on her desk, her blouse unbuttoned, the front clasp of her bra still open, skirt still bunched around her waist and her underwear on the floor. Her green eyes were downcast.

 

“Sharon? Why aren’t you dressed? We’re going to be late,” she said checking her watch. They had five minutes left until they needed to be in the Murder Room. But Sharon made no move to get dressed. All she did, was cross her legs and run a hand through hair, before taking a deep breath.

 

“I can’t do this anymore,” she finally said, looking up and meeting Brenda’s eyes.

 

“What do  you mean by this?”

 

“This, us,” Sharon replied, gesturing between the two of them. It appeared that only then she noticed her state of undress. She closed her bra and started buttoning up her blouse. Brenda blinked, wondering where this so suddenly came from.

 

“Why?”

 

“Because I want to be more than just an occasional fuck.” Sharon voice was sharp and it cut right through Brenda. It was the first time she had heard this tone. It was also the first time she had seen Sharon so vulnerable, almost defeated. The brunette slid off the desk, straightening her skirt as she looked around for her blazer.

 

“You knew what this was when it started. I was pretty clear,” Brenda countered, sounding like a lot more sure of herself than she felt.

 

“I know, I know. I was the rebound. The one you turned to after your divorce. But I had thought that it was just going to be a few times until you got it out of your system and then it would be done.” She stopped, sighing and then looked up again. “But it wasn’t. It has been six months now and nothing has changed.”

 

“I - - I don’t know what to say,” Brenda whispered, knowing Sharon was right. She had fallen into the woman’s bed because Fritz had left and she had never expected it to last, never expected that she didn’t want to give the older woman up. But then she never expected Sharon to stay or to be so accepting and patient.

 

“You don’t have say anything. I’m giving you a choice. Either this is over or it becomes something more than just an affair.” Brenda felt as if Sharon just emptied a bucket of ice water on her.

 

“And what would that mean?”

 

“Don’t play dumb with me, Brenda. It means talking, dinners, breakfasts. It means we go out in public on dates. It means romance,” Sharon snapped as she put on her blazer, buttoning the three buttons. She looked like captain Raydor again and not like a woman who just told Brenda she wanted romance. The difference between the two couldn’t be bigger.

 

“You want romance?” Brenda asked incredulously, watching with wide eyes as Sharon picked up her ruined underwear and put it in her purse.

 

“Yes, I want romance. The question is if you want it. The decision is yours. Excuse me Chief, I think we’re both late.” Brenda didn’t know what to say when Sharon opened the blinds, opened the door and walked out of her office without giving Brenda another look.

 

Brenda sank down on one of the visitor’s chairs in Sharon’s office. She could just see Sharon getting on the elevator before she closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose. Sharon was right about everything. Six months of sleeping with her and she still didn’t know the first thing about Sharon Raydor.

 

They had sex wherever and whenever time allowed it and sometimes one of them stayed over, but left well before breakfast. They didn’t talk, not even about work. With a sigh Brenda had to admit to herself that she had been avoiding getting to know Sharon, afraid that it was all going to fall apart once she did. Maybe it was time for a change.

 

_Day Two, Tuesday_

 

There was nothing to hear but her own heartbeat, steady, calm as the blood was pumped  through her veins. The ear protection drowned out all the sounds as the gun lay heavily in her hands. She curled her finger around the trigger and exhaled. With a bang the bullet left the barrel cutting through the paper target at the other end of the hall. With a content smile Sharon looked at her work, a perfect shot.

 

“For someone who spends most of her time complaining about LAPD officers firing their gun unnecessarily, you are an excellent shot.” Sharon took off her ear protection, put the gun down and turned around facing her daughter, stopping for a  moment when she saw her. She still had not gotten over the fact that Kathryn dyed her beautiful auburn hair blond.

 

“That’s because when I do fire my gun, I’d like it if I hit the intended target and not innocent civilians. It makes the task of cleaning up after me so much easier for my division.”

 

“Okay, mom, what’s going on? You’ve been looking like someone shot your kitten ever since I arrived. Then you drag me down to the firing range, empty three clips and you snap at me. So what is wrong?” Kathryn asked, putting her hands on her hips in a way that reminded Sharon too much of herself.

 

“Can we not talk about this here?” Sharon asked and avoided her daughter’s piercing gaze as she fiddled with the safety of her gun. But Kathryn reached out and took the gun from her hand, putting the safety back on and placed the gun carefully on the table.

 

“We’re the last here. So you’re going to talk about this here. Now.”

 

“I’ve sort of been seeing someone,” Sharon grudgingly admitted, feeling the sudden need of emptying another clip, preferably into something a little more solid than a paper target. Or to shoot with something that was a little bigger than a handgun. She loved her daughter, more than anything, but sharing the problems of her barely existing love life wasn’t something she felt comfortable doing.

 

“I knew it. Who is she? Do I know her?” Kathryn fired the questions at her quicker than Sharon knew how to pull a trigger.

 

“Why do you always automatically assume I’m seeing a woman?” Her daughter rolled her eyes at her, the green appearing so much more vibrant when she looked Sharon in the eye again.

 

“Because ever since Dad, you’ve only been dating women. Now tell me. Why does she make you so… so bitchy?”

 

“Fair enough. You want the long or the short version?” Sharon leant back against the wall, ready to spend a long time at the shooting range doing everything but shooting.

 

“Short, for now.”

 

“She just went through a divorce when we got together. I was the rebound which I was fine with. Until it lasted too long and I started to fall for her. I wanted more than what I was getting from her. And yesterday I told her that,” Sharon recounted, vividly recalling the stunned look on Brenda’s face as she walked out on her.

 

“And what did she say?”

 

“Nothing. I didn’t give her a chance. I gave her a choice. A real relationship or nothing and then I walked out on her.”  
  


“Okay, so you got a right to be a little bitchy. But why don’t you get rid of your frustration like a normal person. By drinking or eating chocolate? Why do you have to go shoot stuff?” Sharon ignored the lump she felt coming up in her throat at the thought of eating chocolate, forcing away the image of Brenda licking chocolate off her fingers.

 

“Because if I drink I get worse. Chocolate isn’t good for me or my figure and if I don’t shoot something I will hit someone.”

 

“Since when are you so touchy? You were never like this before.” Sharon shrugged almost letting Brenda’s name fall from her lips. “Okay, fine. When you’re in a mood, I know better than to push. So you can either let me come home with you and we’ll watch a clichéd chick flick and drink cheap wine or you continue shooting paper men and I go home now. But be quick about it, because Mark is coming home in three hours.”

 

“Lead the way.”

 

“So, not to rub salt into open wounds, but what’s she like?” Kathryn inquired and held the door open for her mother. Sharon looked down and smiled, thinking about Brenda.

 

“She’s infuriating, stubborn, incredibly single-minded and she drives me insane. But she’s beautiful, stunning without trying, she’s caring if she wants be, sweet and even adorable sometimes. We had a mutual dislike of each other when we first met. And that’s putting it mildly. Actually, I think Brenda still didn’t like me all that much when it started.”

 

“Hold on. Did you say Brenda?” Her daughter asked, her eyes growing wide. Sharon winced at her mistake. “As in Deputy Chief Brenda Leigh Johnson, head of Major Crimes, royal pain in the ass and higher ranking than you?”

 

“Yes,” she admitted, unlocking her car. Kathryn stared at her over the roof of the car with a look she normally reserved for her brother whenever he did something idiotic.

 

“There are so many things that I would like to say to you right now, but I’m pretty sure it’s illegal to say those words to a cop, so I’m keeping it to an ‘oh mom, what were you thinking?’ and then hope for a logical explanation.” Kathryn stepped into the car, slamming the door behind her. Sharon rolled her eyes and sat behind the wheel.

 

“I wasn’t thinking, obviously.”

 

“You don’t say.” Sharon loved her daughter’s sarcastic side. It even made her laugh more times than she cared to admit. But now just wasn’t the time.

 

“Kathryn. I knew that it would be risky to get involved with a colleague, let alone a superior officer. And I shouldn’t have done it, but I don’t regret it,” she said as Brenda’s face flashed in front of her eyes. She couldn’t help but smile a little at the hideous floral skirt, the pink blazer, messy curls and the beautiful brown eyes.

 

“Good.” Her daughter’s voice came through her thoughts. Kathryn leaned closer and kissed her on the cheek. “I just wanted to make sure I wasn’t supporting you into something you saw as a mistake.”

 

“Thank you.”

 

“You’re welcome, now get driving. I haven’t seen Mark in days because apparently the hospital decided to give us shifts that seem intent on destroying our personal lives. He’ll be back by eleven and I _really, really_ want to see him.”

 

“Okay, I get it.”

 

_Day Three, Wednesday_

 

The hot water beat down on her skin, turning it slightly red, but Brenda didn’t notice it. She simply closed her eyes and let her head rest against the still cold tiles as she tried not to think about Sharon Raydor and how beautiful she looked today.

 

She only saw her for a few short moments and even if she knew that Sharon hadn’t put any extra effort in looking better, to Brenda she had never looked more beautiful in her pinstriped suit and her killer heels. She hadn’t seemed even slightly fazed by what had happened two days ago. Her captain’s mask had been firmly in place.

 

Where Brenda had not been able to keep her eyes off Sharon, the brunette hadn’t even glanced at her, which hurt her more than it probably should have. There was a time when she had preferred the aloof attitude from the captain instead of her attentive, piercing looks. But now she would give anything for a glimpse of Sharon’s eyes gazing at her through those glasses.

 

Brenda slid down the wall until she sat down on the bottom of the tub, her legs pulled up and her arms wrapped around them. She couldn’t help it when she started shivering despite the warm water. She really screwed things up with Sharon. Of course a woman like Sharon wanted something more than casual sex. She deserved more.

 

But she wasn’t sure if she could give that to Sharon. Fritz had left her because her life was her work and there was simply no room for him. Or maybe she just hadn’t tried enough. Fritz still was the most honorable and patient man she had known and he had walked out on her. Sharon Raydor while honorable, didn’t strike her as a patient woman. Sharon would never be able to stand all her bad qualities.

 

When it was just sex and nothing else it was simple, manageable. Brenda could decide just how much time she allowed Sharon to take up in her life. There would be no discussions about whether she put her shoes in the closet or if she cleaned up after herself. No arguments about her long hours and her dedication to her job.

 

A fear had settled over her. A fear that if she let Sharon into her life she would ruin whatever it was they could have. But then if she didn’t, Sharon would definitely leave her. She let her head rest on her knees as she weighed the options. Brenda was surprised that the thought of Sharon leaving her terrified her more than getting into a real relationship with the very real possibility it could go wrong.

 

She was falling, and she was falling hard for the woman she hated when she first met her and didn’t really like her when she started sleeping with her. Sharon had been there at the right moment and Brenda had stopped fighting the physical attraction she had suppressed when she was still with Fritz. She had even told Sharon while undressing her that she didn’t like her.

 

She had always thought Sharon felt the same way. She wondered when it started to change for Sharon or maybe it had occurred long before they ever started sleeping together. She wondered when it changed for herself. When did the dread she felt whenever Sharon walked into a room change into a warm feeling of anticipation settling in her stomach?

 

She sat in the shower until the water grew cold and her teeth started chattering. To catch a cold on top of everything was not what she needed. She reached out and turned the tab off. After a long moment she pulled herself up and out of the tub, wrapping a towel around herself.

 

With another towel, she wiped clean the steamed up mirror and saw her reflection. Her wet hair was slicked against her head, her makeup was gone, her eyes were slightly red-rimmed and her lips were blue, slowing turning pink again as her body warmed up again.

 

Why would a woman like Sharon want a woman like her? She was Atlanta, floral skirts, pink tops and blazers, bright colors, a southern drawl and the girl next door. Sharon was LA, Armani, Blahnik, perfectly styled hair, softly spoken and so sexy without even wanting to be. It was so mismatched that it just couldn’t work. But she would try.

 

_Day Four, Thursday_

 

As Sharon entered the gym, she pulled her hair back into a loose ponytail and strapped her iPod to her upper arm. To ignore the fact that the voices had turned into whispers the second she entered, she put her earphones in and pressed play, the soothing tones of Erik Satie overtaking the hushed tones behind her back.

 

She stepped onto the only free treadmill in the center of the room. Smoothing down her top and making sure her shorts were alright, she started to walk, quickening the speed until she settled into a pace that she could keep for a reasonable amount of time.

 

In the mirrors on the other side of the gym, Sharon could see the entire room. The men pushing weights, their muscles straining at the effort, some overly eager women making the whole round, spending the right amount of time on every machine to get what they thought was the perfect body. It was a shame they would be wasted underneath a uniform. And on the treadmills Sharon mostly saw higher ranking officers, like herself, trying to get the little exercise their lives would allow them to have.

 

Despite the fact that nobody here dared to speak out loud when Sharon was there, afraid that Captain Raydor would use the information when the time came that they would be under investigation, she actually liked this gym. The people here were almost exclusively members of the LAPD, so no one came just to be seen by others, no one was pretentious. Here she could simply run without having to look perfect.  

 

Running made her forget her worries, made her forget the way she turned around every time she passed a blond woman, saw a floral skirt or heard a southern drawl. She quickened her pace again to a speed she knew she couldn’t hold for long. In a few minutes the pain would shoot in her calves and then move up to her thighs, but she couldn’t bring herself to care.

 

She needed the pain to forget how today she stood next to Brenda in the elevator. Sharon had lost her breath when Brenda stepped onto the elevator and her heartbeat had shot up. The blonde had avoided her eyes keeping them on the floor and then on the wall. The elevator had never moved so slow. If there hadn’t been other people in the elevator Sharon wasn’t sure if she had been able to control herself.

 

She had smelled Brenda, felt the heat radiate of her body as they stood so close they were almost touching. Sharon had kept her eyes on the back of lieutenant Flynn’s head. When the elevator had stopped and Brenda and her team had gotten off, the blonde had accidentally brushed her hand against Sharon’s.

 

Brenda had stopped and turned around to face Sharon, looking at her as if she was about to say something, but instead she just had nodded and disappeared out of sight, leaving Sharon to wonder what exactly was going on in Brenda’s head and if she had lost her already. And now she was running at the one place she knew she wouldn’t see Brenda until her muscles would cramp and she was forced to stop.

 

A thin sheen of sweat was covering her skin now, causing the edges of her top to become slightly damp and the short hairs in her neck to stick to her skin. As the first signs of pain started in her calves, she slowed down until she was walking and she finally stopped completely with the feeling her heart was trying to beat out of her chest.

 

Satie’s piano works were still playing on her iPod, but she no longer heard the calm tones. All she heard is her own heavy breathing and her heartbeat, frantic, fast, but so present. She would live, no matter what Brenda finally chose.

 

_Day Five, Friday_

Almost every single time Brenda walked onto a crime scene she got this nauseated feeling that she swallowed away. Death had a certain smell, one that had become too familiar over the years. She never could understand what would bring a person to take the life of another. Tonight was no different.

 

It started at the door, the bloody hand print on the white wood and on the door handle, then on the ledge. Only a few feet away lay the first body, a girl, young, much too young in a puddle of her own blood. Brenda closed her eyes for a brief moment, took deep breath and opened them again, counting the bullet holes. There were four of them. And she could see already that it wasn’t until the last one the girl actually died.

 

Gabriel talked to her about the neighbor who called 911 when he heard the shots, the officers who had arrived first at the scene had seen the blood and then girl and called it in before breaking down the door, searching for other victims, possible survivors and the killer. Upstairs there had been two more victims.

 

“What’s her name?” Brenda asked, dreading the moment she would have to walk those stairs. Gabriel looked in his little notebook.

 

“Anna Dunston.” She nodded, looking at the girl’s young face. She couldn’t be older than sixteen. Brenda looked away and walked towards the stairs, swallowing when she saw the bloody footprints on the crème carpet. They belonged to a man judging by the size, probably the shooter.

 

The room upstairs was a perfect room for a little boy. One of his parents had taken a lot of time painting an enormous and detailed spaceship on the wall and planets with stars on the ceiling. Even his closet was shaped as a spaceship of some kind. It was the perfect room for a little boy. But Brenda could only see the bodies on the floor, their blood soaked into the blue carpet.

 

The scene was heartbreaking. A woman in her forties with a bullet hole in the side of her head was curled around a little body, a boy, no older than seven, dressed in his pajamas. From this angle Brenda couldn’t see much and she wondered if she wanted too. The two holes in his back stained with blood told her enough.

 

“Do we have a suspect yet?” she whispered, the lump in her throat preventing her from saying much more.

 

“The husband and father, Tom Dunston. We put a APB out on him. He is to be considered armed and dangerous. Airports, train and bus stations have also been alerted,” Gabriel stated.

 

“Good,” Brenda replied, tearing her gaze away from the victims. Murder was something she may never be able to understand, but to kill a child, two in this case that was impossible to even begin to comprehend.

 

“Chief?” Flynn called out to her from downstairs.

 

“Yes, lieutenant?”

 

“They found him about two miles from here.” Those words made Brenda jump into action, taking off the black gloves as practically ran down the stairs, avoiding the footprints. By the door she tore off her overshoes and tossed them with the rest of them, before rushing towards the car, Gabriel close behind her, Flynn, Provenza and Tao already ahead of them.

 

Before she could even close the car door behind her, Gabriel had stepped on the gas, following the Lieutenants as they drove away, sirens blaring through the silence of the night. Brenda doubted if they would get there in time. If the man was in the state she suspected he might be in, he would be waving around his gun, ignoring the shouts to toss his weapon until the officers were forced to shoot him.

 

And when they arrived minutes later, she discovered that she was right as she looked down at the body of Tom Dunston, the gun still in his hand. It was a clean shot, between his eyes, so the blood on his shirt and pants couldn’t be his own.

 

“Did someone notify FID?”

 

“They’re already here,” Flynn said. Brenda looked up and saw Sharon’s car with Sharon leaning against it, talking to one of her subordinates.

 

“How did they get here so fast?” she asked, not able to stop herself from sounding annoyed. “And where’s the officer who took the shot?”

 

“Captain Raydor was the first to respond to the call,” Flynn replied and Brenda looked at Sharon again and saw her handing over her gun to her subordinate as she pulled her coat tighter around her body. Lieutenant Flynn was still talking to her, but she wasn’t listening anymore. Walking past him, she approached Sharon.

 

“Sergeant, could I have a moment with captain Raydor, please.” The man nodded, put Sharon’s gun in an evidence bag and walked away towards the lifeless body of Tom Dunston. Sharon showed no emotion. She simply crossed her arms in front of her chest.

 

“Are you okay?” Brenda asked, her hands itching to reach out and hold the woman.

 

“It’s not the first time I’ve killed a man, chief,” Sharon replied coolly.

 

“That doesn’t mean it gets any easier,” she said softly, thinking back of all the times she was forced to pull the trigger. There was no moment quite as horrifying as seeing the life leave someone’s eyes, no matter how awful the crime they committed.

 

“Was he the man you were looking for?”

 

“Yes, by the looks of it.”

 

“At least that’s something,” Sharon commented with a sigh. She took off her glasses and ran a hand over her face. Her fingers trembled a little. She took another deep breath and the trembling stopped. Brenda could see Sharon turning into captain Raydor in front of her eyes. “What is he supposed to have done?”

 

“He murdered his wife, daughter and son. So far we haven’t been able to establish a motive.”

 

“I heard him shout and I saw the look on his face. I doubt he had a motive. He was the closest thing to insane that I have ever seen.” Brenda followed Sharon’s gaze and saw that FID and Major Crimes were once again arguing over whose crime scene it actually was. She shook her head. The body wasn’t even cold yet.

 

“I’m sorry that you had to kill him,” she said and looked at Sharon again. Even at 10 pm, after having killed a man, she still looked beautiful.

 

“I’m not,” Sharon stated, turning her green eyes to look at Brenda who raised her eyebrows in surprise. “If I hadn’t, he would have killed me or someone else. It was a risk I could not take.”

 

“Will you be cleared?”

 

“That’s up to my team, the evidence and my statement that I still need to give, so if you’ll excuse me, chief.” Sharon brushed past the blonde, but Brenda didn’t want her to go. She wanted to tell her that everything would be alright, that she would be there for her if the older woman wanted her.

 

“Sharon, I - -,” Brenda started, placing her hand on the woman’s arm. Sharon turned around, giving her a weak smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes

 

“Not here, not now. Call me later.” With those words Sharon turned on her heel, walking away from Brenda in search of her team. And Brenda found herself unable to look away from the captain’s retreating form, hoping that the older woman would look over her shoulder just once.

 

\- - - - - - - - - -

 

Brenda sat at her desk, looking at her phone and then occasionally flicking her eyes towards the clock, before looking at her phone again. It was late, too late to call. But still she picked up her phone and dialed Sharon’s number, hesitating for a moment before pressing the dial button. Sharon picked up on the second ring.

 

“Hello?” Brenda felt her heart skip a beat at the sound of Sharon’s smooth voice. She sounded tired, exhausted even.

 

“Hi, Sharon, it’s me. Brenda. Did I wake you?”

 

“No, not at all. What can I help you with?” Even over the phone Brenda got the feeling Sharon was lying to her. Her voice sounded a little hoarse and lower than usual, like she had just woken up from a deep sleep.

 

“I just wanted to know if you were alright.”

 

“I’m fine. Nothing a little wine and a goodnight’s sleep won’t cure. Like I said, this wasn’t the first time.”

 

“Good. What about your OIS?”

 

“The paperwork will be finished tomorrow. I’ll be cleared for duty on Monday after a talk with a therapist and Behavioral Science.” Brenda could hear the dread in Sharon’s voice. She could just imagine Sharon trying to avoid answering every question a therapist tries to ask her.

 

“Great.” Until that moment she hadn’t known that awkward silences on a phone could be just as intimidating and nerve-wracking as they could be in person. She almost wanted to sigh with relief when she heard Sharon’s voice again.

 

“What about your case?”

 

“All evidence, including ballistics confirms that Tom Dunston was the shooter. The only thing that’s lacking is a motive. Other than that the case is closed.” Somewhere Brenda was glad that Tom Dunston died. She didn’t know how long she could have looked at those crime scene photos or if she had had the willpower to listen to a man tell her how he murdered his family.

 

“Congratulations.”

 

“Thank you.”

 

“If that was all,” Sharon asked with an almost inaudible hesitancy in her voice. It would be so easy to let this be the end and walk away from it all, but Brenda found that she couldn’t. If she walked away from Sharon, she’d regret it for a long time.

 

“No,” she said after a long silence. “I was wondering if you’d like to have dinner with me, tomorrow night, if you’re feeling up to it.”

 

“As colleagues or as a date?”

 

“As a date,” Brenda replied without hesitating. Another silence followed, but it isn’t awkward this time. It’s wonderful. She could almost hear Sharon smiling on the other end of the line. She had made the right choice.

 

“I would like that.”

 

_Day Six, Saturday_

 

Sharon couldn’t believe she was actually nervous for this. She had been on plenty of dates with women she knew less about than Brenda, with women she hadn’t been having sex with for six months. She already knew Brenda to a certain extent. She knew what she could be like at her worst, having been on the receiving end of those moods more times than she would like to think about.

 

She turned in front of the mirror one final time before finally deciding that she wouldn’t make it any better before Brenda arrived. The red dress was meant for a cocktail party she never went to. It was nothing special, not very revealing with a single wide strap over her right shoulder, only a modest cleavage and the hemline less than an inch above her knees.

 

Carefully she picked up the dresses she had decided against and put them back in her closet before reaching for the only pair of shoes she knew that would go with this dress, the black Louboutins, inappropriate for work with their 5 inch heels and red soles, but perfect for a date. Stepping into them, she walked back to the mirror, running a hand through her hair one final time and checking her make-up before putting her glasses on.

 

When the doorbell rang, she exited the bedroom, grabbing her clutch along the way. She attempted to get rid of the last of her nerves before she opened the door. It was ridiculous. Brenda had seen her hundreds of times and seen her naked dozens of times. Why would it be any different now?

 

She got her answer when she opened the door and the sight before her left her breathless. Brenda was stunning in a little black dress that clung to her every curve, exposing a fair amount of skin and cleavage. Soft blond curls framed her face. She had even gotten rid of that enormous purse of hers and exchanged it for a small black one. In her right hand she held a single red rose.

 

“You look beautiful,” Sharon said and smiled. Brenda nearly sighed in relief and returned her smile.

 

“Thank you. So do you.” For a moment they just stood there in silence, just looking at each other, until Brenda held out the rose. “I brought this for you.”

 

“Thank you.” Delicately taking over the flower, Sharon leant in and intended to give Brenda a quick kiss, but as soon as their lips met, Brenda cupped her cheek and pulled her closer. Sharon allowed herself to be kissed like they hadn’t seen each other in months and lost herself in the moment.

 

“What was that for?” she asked when Brenda released her, looking at her as if she had never seen her before.

 

“For putting up with me these past months. A lot of people would have left.”

 

“Then you’re lucky I’m not like a lot of people. And that I’m equally difficult to deal with.”

 

“I guess I am.” Brenda smiled and watched how Sharon carefully placed the rose on a cabinet and put on a black trench coat.

 

“Shall we go then?”

 

As she stepped into Brenda’s car, she couldn’t help but smile and think of the time Brenda refused to share the same car with her. It had amused her then, to know that she aggravated the only other woman in the LAPD who was head of a division so easily where dozens of others had failed.

 

If she were honest, Brenda had done the exact same thing to her on the first case they met. The blonde had managed to make her snap and become angry in front of Chief Pope. Unlike Brenda, Sharon had learned her lesson and discovered how to handle the woman without losing her temper. Brenda however had never quite gotten over her annoyance with her. Until now.

 

When they drove off, Sharon noticed the tiny ball of tin foil in the cup holder. Reaching out she picked it up and held it up. It was unmistakably a wrapper of a ding dong. “Were you nervous?” A beautiful deep pink color came up on Brenda’s cheeks as she bit her bottom lip.

 

“Yes,” she grudgingly admitted, grabbing the little ball and tossing it back in the cup holder.

 

“Why? I don’t bite, you know.” Brenda looked at her with a raised eyebrow and smug grin tugging at her lips.

 

“I think we both know that you do,” she retaliated. Sharon felt herself starting to blush, thinking about the times she let her teeth sink in Brenda’s skin. She never was much of a biter before she met the blonde.

 

“Touché,” Sharon said softly and then added as a smug afterthought. “Though I don’t recall you ever complained.”

 

They sat the rest of the short ride in silence. Sharon couldn’t help being a little afraid that dinner will be filled with awkward silences, not being able to recall having a conversation that lasted longer than five minutes with Brenda that wasn’t about work or for work. They both worked best when they’re arguing or having sex.

 

Brenda pulled up in the parking lot of a restaurant, one that Sharon vaguely recalled having been to a few times with an ex girlfriend. It had switched owners and cuisine since then and it had been giving a makeover. It looked different, classier somehow. The new owner had given it a French air.

 

Their heels clicked on the asphalt as they walked across the parking lot, Brenda’s pace slightly faster than her own. More out of habit than anything else, Sharon put her hands in her pockets and watched the blonde. She seemed nervous, glancing at the restaurant with a small frown.

 

Once they were inside, they were guided to their table as Sharon let her eyes wander. Despite the fact that it was rather large, it had a homely yet modern look, fresh colors, abstract art, a French poem written on the back wall. It was quite stylish and very unlike Brenda. She was making an effort and Sharon realized that this wasn’t just some experiment on Brenda’s part.

 

She relaxed as she settled in her chair at a table in the back with Brenda sitting across from her, picking imaginary lint of her dress. A waiter appeared, handing them their menus as Brenda ordered a glass of water and Sharon a glass of white wine.

 

“You’re not drinking?” Sharon asked as she read the menu, mentally striking what she didn’t want.

 

“I’m driving,” Brenda stated in a matter of fact voice. Sharon had a quick response on the tip of her tongue, but swallowed it before she could start a discussion that would ruin this evening.

 

“How have you been? I saw the news coverage of your case. It can’t have been an easy one.” She saw Brenda’s lips tighten at her words. The deaths of children never got any easier, no matter how many times one saw their bodies.

 

“I’m okay. I’ll never get used to seeing the body of a child. Just like I’ll never get used to pulling the trigger.” Sharon wanted to shake her head at Brenda’s attempt to turn to conversation to her shooting, but managed to stop herself, deciding to go with it instead.

 

“Yes, well, in self defense or self preservation I can live with it. But I never forget their faces.”

 

“I know. The first is the worst. I can still see his face, his expression. Do you still remember yours?”

 

“My second week on the job. I responded to a 911 call, a woman who suspected there was someone breaking in. I entered the house and before I had even seen him, he pulled out a gun, fired and missed. I shot back and killed him.” She had been so young then, so unprepared. It had taken her three months before she had been fully reinstated.

 

“It took me almost five years until I actually killed a man.” Sharon nodded, having read every OIS report there had been on Brenda Leigh Johnson.

 

“Things are a bit different in LA. Here teenagers have been carrying guns since before I was born.”

 

The waiter appeared again with a fake smile plastered on his face, but the look in his eyes was disapproving, like she had seen many times before when she was on a date with a woman. She could see that Brenda saw it too. They both quickly ordered, wanting to get rid of the unpleasant little man.

 

“So you’ve been with the LAPD your entire career?” Brenda asked, continuing their conversation, appearing unfazed by the waiter.

 

“Yes. But I studied law for a few years before I switched to the police academy. There was a time I wanted to be a lawyer, believe it or not.” It was something she more did for her parents than for herself, but over the years she got a lot of help from her extensive knowledge of criminal law, but she never once regretted the career path she had chosen.

 

“I can see that happening,” Brenda said with a grin, causing Sharon to snort.

 

“Your division already believes I’m the devil incarnated or was it the wicked witch? I can’t keep track anymore, so imagining me defending the criminals you try to put away can’t be that difficult.”

 

“I’m so sorry about that, I shouldn’t have let my team or myself get carried away like that.” Brenda’s apology was sincere, her brown eyes unblinking and so beautiful. It shocked Sharon to see the younger woman’s normally guarded face so open.

 

“Don’t be,” she said, her voice sounding weak. She cleared her throat, getting rid of the emotional tone. “If the people outside IA don’t dislike me, I’m not doing my job right.” A different waiter from the one that had taken their order walked up to their table, putting the plates in front of them, a genuine smile on her face. Sharon smiled back while Brenda drawled a thank you.

 

“Can I just ask, why me?” Clearly that was the last question Brenda was expecting as she chokes on the piece of meat she was chewing. Sharon waited patiently for her to swallow and take a sip of her water as she traced the edge of her wineglass with her finger.

 

“Because you were there?” Brenda tried, smiling innocently. It quickly disappeared when Sharon raised an eyebrow and pursed her lips. “Honestly, I don’t know. My divorce was just finalized and then you walked into my office. It was a rash decision, one that I never expected you to go with.”

 

“Aren’t you glad it was me that walked in and not Lieutenant Provenza or Commander Taylor.”

 

“I wouldn’t have jumped anyone who came through that door,” Brenda replied, sounding a little insulted. “If it had been anyone but you, I wouldn’t have, but it was you. And I wanted you, even though I still didn’t like you much at the time.”

 

“You sure know how to make a girl feel special,” Sharon said dryly, before sipping her wine. Brenda looked at her with wide eyes, trying to determine if she had ruined her chance with the other woman. Sharon couldn’t help but smile at her wide-eyed expression. “What made you change your mind?”

 

“The thought of not having you in my life scared me and then I realized I didn’t want to let you walk away without having known what we could have been,” Brenda replied softly. Sharon opened her mouth, searching for the right words, but closed it again when they wouldn’t come to her. She reached and took one of Brenda’s hands in her own.

 

“Good answer,” she finally said, feeling like an idiot for not saying something more elaborate or romantic. But Brenda smiled anyway as she gave her hand a reassuring squeeze before she released it and started picking at her food.

 

“Why did you let me though? I basically attacked you, barely gave you a choice.” The blonde refused to meet her eyes as she spoke, seeming very interested in the food on her plate.

 

“I had a choice. I could have pushed you away and reported you for sexual harassment.” Brenda nearly dropped her fork at her words. “But I didn’t want to. I’ve been attracted to you for a long time. But I had accepted the fact that it wasn’t going to happen. First you were married and even after that you were straight as far as I knew. When you ‘attacked’ me, as you so graciously call it, I took what I could get.”

 

“You were attracted to me? For how long?”

 

“Probably longer than I would care to admit. When you were still calling me bitch behind my back.” With a smile Sharon thought back at the moment they met. She’d never had been that torn before, not knowing if she wanted to throttle the blonde that pulled rank on her or just slam against the wall and kiss her until it was simply impossible for words to leave that smart mouth.

 

“I only did that once,” Brenda said, sounding a lot like her daughter whenever Sharon caught her doing something she shouldn’t be doing. “And I was standing under a Nazi flag when I said that.”

 

“I know.”

 

“That was a long time ago.”

 

“Yes, it was. I take it you didn’t realize until much, much later.”

 

“Yes, well no, I don’t know. I was still with Fritz, I think.” Brenda’s voice trailed off as if she was trying to pinpoint the exact moment, but didn’t want to admit to herself when exactly that was.

 

“You think?”

 

“I was married at the time. Even if I had any inappropriate thoughts about you, I ignored them until they simply weren’t there anymore.”

 

“That easy?”

 

“No.” The reply was curt and sharp. Before Sharon could pursue the issue, Brenda spoke again, switching to a different subject. “So tell me about your children. I’ve seen their pictures at your house, but I don’t even know their names.”

 

“Kathryn is my eldest. She’s a second year resident at Cedars in the ER, so is her boyfriend. They both work 36 hour shifts so I see them only sporadically. And my youngest, Thomas, is in his final year of Harvard. He’s studying law, wants to become a prosecutor.” She didn’t add ‘thank God’ to the last statement. She couldn’t bear the thought of her son keeping rapists and murderers out of prison.

 

“Wow. They did pretty well.”

 

“They did. They’re the picture of the perfect pair of children. If only I’d still be married to their father, we could have been an ad for the American dream,” Sharon said, suppressing the urge to snort at the thought.

 

“Why did you divorce?”

 

“Ask my daughter and she’ll tell you it’s because I was a repressed lesbian. Maybe that was part of it, I don’t know. We loved each other until we didn’t. He made that clear by sleeping with another woman. And I couldn’t even bring myself to care about it. We divorced and if it hadn’t been for my kids we never would have seen each other again.”

 

“Oh. I’m sorry.”

 

“There’s no need to be. I’m not. What happened between you and Agent Howard? If you’re able to talk about it.”

 

“Do you know that quote, ‘love is suffering, one side always loves more’? That was what eventually caused Fritz to leave me. I loved him, I did, but I never invested much time in my marriage. Fritz, he just loved me so much. He wanted me to be home more, to spend less time at my job and more time with him. And I didn’t.”

 

“I’m sorry.”

 

“The months before we split up we argued constantly. I wasn’t exactly surprised when he filed for divorce. Didn’t make it hurt any less though.”

 

“I can understand that.”

 

The waiter clears their plates, gives them dessert cards. Sharon refuses and just orders Irish Coffee and Brenda after a quick glance order profiteroles.

 

“Always something with chocolate.”

 

“Is there something wrong with that?”

 

“No, not at all. I’m just wondering how you manage to keep your figure when you eat all of that candy without working out.”

 

“I guess I’ve simply been blessed.”

 

The waiter brought the coffee and the profiteroles. Sharon watched as Brenda pricked her fork in one of the chocolate covered sweetness and brought it up to her mouth. Her eyes closed as when she closed her lips around the silverware and she moaned softly causing Sharon to involuntarily press her thighs together. The blonde was trying to kill her, she was sure of it.

 

“Good?” she croaked. Brenda slowly opened her eyes, pulling the fork away from her lips. Sharon swallowed at the ecstasy she saw in Brenda’s eyes. 

 

“Perfect. Do you want to try one?” With an innocent face Brenda held up her fork, a chocolate covered profiterole at its end. Sharon wanted to decline, but the other woman looked so sweet and Sharon didn’t want to pass up an opportunity where Brenda actually shared her candy. So she leaned forward and took the offered piece of dessert.

 

The overwhelming taste of chocolate sauce filled her mouth. She bit down to taste the cream. It was exquisite, like Brenda had said, perfect. Brenda looked at her expectantly, waiting for her to chew and swallow. Sharon smiled at her as her she cleared her mouth of the profiterole.

 

“Delicious.”

 

“I told you,” Brenda said with a grin. Sharon simply picked up her Irish coffee and took a sip, reveling in the slight burn. The younger woman bit her bottom lip when Sharon set her glass back down, unsuccessfully keeping down a giggle.

 

“What?”

 

“You have some whipped cream on your nose,” Brenda said and giggled, actually giggled. Sharon’s lips quirked at the sound. The sound was new to her. It was fresh and altogether quite lovely. With a smile of her own, Sharon wiped off the whipped cream with her napkin, never taking her eyes off the giggling blonde.

 

“Did I get it all?” she asked when Brenda had calmed down, wiping away a tear that had rolled down her cheek.

 

“Yes, you got it all,” Brenda replied, sticking her fork in another delicacy and bringing it up to her mouth. She smiled when Sharon took another sip from her Irish coffee, immediately checking if there was whipped cream on the tip of her nose, relieved to find none.

 

“I didn’t realize I could be so funny,” she said calmly.

 

“You just looked really cute and kind of out of character.” Sharon raised her eyebrows, watching Brenda lick some chocolate sauce off her fork. The younger woman really had no idea what she just said.

 

“I’ve been called many things, Brenda Leigh, but you’re the first to call me cute.”

 

“Well, you can be. When you’re not being all captain Rulebook and you don’t have your guard up, you can be rather cute,” Brenda stated.

 

“Thank you, I think. I’d repay the compliment, but you’re cute most of the time when you’re not intimidating suspects.”

 

“I’m from the South, I’m always cute,” Brenda deadpanned. Sharon snorted, but when Brenda threw a pouty look at her, she just had to agree with her. Not caring if anyone looked at them, she leaned over the table and pressed a quick kiss to Brenda’s pouting lips, tasting the faint flavor of chocolate.

 

“I - -,” Brenda stuttered. “What was that for?”

 

“Being cute.”

 

It wasn’t until they arrived back at Sharon’s house that Sharon felt the awkward silence she had feared for. Brenda nervously tapped on the steering wheel, glancing at Sharon, while she herself fumbled with the fastening of her seatbelt, wondering what it was that the blonde had on her mind, but was afraid of saying.

 

“I know you wanted romance and I respect that, I even like it, but I was wondering, if, you know,” Brenda blurted out, making her incredibly adorable as she searched for the right words. Sharon unbuckled her belt and leaned over, capturing Brenda’s lips in a slow kiss, brushing her lips over Brenda’s, still tasting like chocolate.

 

“Would you like to come in and do everything but have a nightcap?” Sharon asked, wiping away some of the crimson lipstick she left on Brenda’s lips. Brenda smiled and nodded, unbuckling her seatbelt and turning off the car. She stole a quick kiss before she exited the car. Smirking Sharon followed her.

 

Sharon had barely closed her front door behind her when Brenda was on her, kissing her hard, tongues colliding and teeth clashing as she tore off Sharon’s coat, hand wandering over Sharon’s bare arms, raising goose bumps as she went. Sharon returned the favor, pushing Brenda’s coat off her shoulders, letting it fall to the floor. She wrapped her arms around the younger woman’s neck, tangling her fingers in the blond hair as she toed off her heels, making her a few inches shorter than Brenda.

 

“Bedroom,” Brenda growled when she slipped her hands underneath the hem of Sharon dress, caressing her thighs and the smooth globes of her ass. With a groan, Sharon guided them out of the hallway, bumping into the wall a few times before they reached the stairs, only then did she tear away her lips from Brenda’s.

 

“Oh, I hate it that your bedroom’s upstairs,” Brenda complained. Sharon just threw her head back and laughed, before running up the stairs. Looking over her shoulder, she saw that Brenda stepped out of her heels and was staring at her. Turning around at the top, she smiled and slowly unzipped her dress, slipped the strap off her shoulder and let the dress slide off her body and pool around her ankles. Smiling smugly she crooked her finger. She didn’t think she had ever seen Brenda move that fast, but she didn’t complain when she had her arms full of a breathless blonde.

 

“You’re very eager,” Sharon teased.

 

“You have no idea what you do to me, do you? When you laugh like that, when you’re so free, you are so beautiful, so sexy and you don’t even know it,” Brenda said, completely taking Sharon by surprise. Sharon could only gape at her. She hadn’t expected Brenda who less than a week ago had treated her like nothing more than a woman she occasionally had sex to tell her she was beautiful. Without saying another word, she placed her hands on Brenda’s hips and pulled towards her bedroom.

 

Kissing Brenda again, she quickly found the zipper of Brenda’s dress and pulled it down. With Brenda’s help she managed to get the younger woman out of it, carelessly throwing it in the general direction of the chair in the corner before sliding her hands over Brenda’s well-toned stomach, letting them come to rest in the dip of her waist as she guided her to her bed.

 

Sharon let out a surprised squeak when Brenda suddenly turned them around, pushing Sharon onto the bed, quickly straddling her so she couldn’t get up. But the predatory grin that played on Brenda’s lips told Sharon that she really didn’t want to get up any time soon. Brenda’s fingers moved over her skin, from her throat over collarbone down between her breasts only to stop at the front clasp of her strapless bra. With a flick of her wrist she flicked it open.

 

Brenda bent down, closing her lips around Sharon’s nipple, running her tongue over it. Sharon moaned arching up into Brenda’s mouth, trying to slide her hands in Brenda’s hair, but the blonde grabbed her wrists and pinned them to the mattress.

 

“Nu-uh, Sharon, this is for you,” Brenda said as she released Sharon’s nipple. Sharon groaned and rolled her hips against Brenda, eliciting a soft moan from the younger before those perfect lips wrapped around her other nipple, sucking on the soft flesh. Sharon clenched her fists, wishing she could just hold on to Brenda, feel the blonde’s hair or her soft skin.

 

“Brenda,” she gasped. “Don’t tease. I need you.”

 

“Where?” Brenda asked, sliding a hand between their bodies, slipping it between Sharon’s legs, her fingers finding the damp spot in her thong. “Do you want me here?”

 

“Yes.” Sharon knew she sounded desperate, but she couldn’t care less. She needed Brenda, needed her touch, her tongue.

 

“All you had to do was ask,” Brenda said with a grin. Sharon wanted to groan in frustration, but stopped herself when Brenda started kissing her way down her body, teeth nipping at her skin, followed by her tongue soothing the red marks. Brenda had released her wrists, but Sharon didn’t try to touch her. She simply grabbed the cover, twisting it in her fists.

 

“Did you wear this for me?” Brenda asked, plucking at the waistband of her lacy thong, crimson like the bra, like the dress she had worn.

 

“Yes,” Sharon confessed. She always loved that particular set. It was almost a shame it was ruined now, but the feeling of having Brenda in her bed, knowing she was going to leave her before dawn was worth it.

 

She lifted her hips to help Brenda slide it down her legs and then watched as Brenda threw it over her shoulder. Brenda slid her hands over her thighs, spreading them before she settled between them, pressing soft kisses to the inside of her thighs, sucking on her skin, leaving marks. She whimpered when she felt Brenda’s tongue running over her wet folds, pressing between them.

 

“Is this what you wanted?” Brenda’s voice was low and her breath washed over Sharon’s sex. Sharon writhed on the bed when she felt Brenda’s fingers ghost over the inside of her thighs.

 

“More,” she managed. “I need more.” Sharon thought she would go insane when she felt a single digit slip inside as Brenda’s lips closed around her clit, softly sucking on it. Before when they had sex it was quick and rough, just a desperate need for release and that was it, but now, Brenda was going so slow, making a very good attempt at trying to make her lose her sanity.

 

A second finger was added and Brenda started humming, sending vibrations right through Sharon’s clit, through her body. Sharon desperately wanted to roll hips, take in more of Brenda’s fingers, try to get more pressure, but was held down by Brenda’s hand on her stomach. She was so close now, she just needed a little more.

 

Just then Brenda scraped her teeth over her clit and curled her fingers. And Sharon came with a cry, her muscles painfully tight as she arched off the bed, black spot appearing in her sight. Brenda had stopped moving and was probably watching her, but Sharon could bring herself to raise her head and find her eyes.

 

As her body relaxed she felt Brenda peppering soft kisses on her stomach, her breasts before capturing her mouth in a slow kiss. Sharon sighed happily when she tasted herself on Brenda’s lips and tongue, wrapping her arms around the blonde to pull her closer when she felt herself come back to her body.

 

“You okay?” Brenda inquired when Sharon broke the kiss.

 

“Wonderful. How are you though?”

 

“Fine, why do you ask?” Brenda raised her eyebrow at the grin that started showing on Sharon’s face. Sharon caressed the soft skin of Brenda’s back, before sliding her hand between their bodies, slipping it inside the blonde’s soaking underwear. Brenda gasped, bracing herself.

 

“That’s why,” Sharon replied before pushing two fingers inside Brenda, loving the feeling of her tight heat around her fingers. When Brenda’s arms start to tremble, she flips them over, leaning over the blonde as she moves her fingers, brushing them over her clit before pushing them back in. Sharon always loved feeling Brenda around her, the tiny sounds she made in the back of her throat with every thrust or every flick against her clit.

 

“You feel so good,” she whispered in Brenda ear before kissing her jaw and her exposed throat, sucking at her pulse point, leaving a very visible mark. She felt a pride at marking Brenda as her own, she never could before. “Mine,” she growled, licking the reddening spot.

 

“Yes,” Brenda gasped. “Yours.”

 

Sharon pressed their lips together in a sloppy kiss, Brenda’s tongue darting out, brushing against her own as she added a third finger and let her palm rub over Brenda’s clit. Brenda’s thankfully short nails dug into her shoulders, leaving crescent indentations in the skin as Sharon brought her closer to the edge before pushing her over with one final thrust.

 

Sharon watched her as she came, how her lips parted and her face flushed as her eyes were closed, a low moan falling past her perfect lips. Smiling when Brenda opened her eyes again, she leaned down and pressed a kiss to her forehead and rolled off her, the muscles in her back already aching.

 

“I’m exhausted,” Brenda said. Sharon turned her head and looked at Brenda’s profile, the gentle slope of her nose, her very prominent and kissable lips.

 

“You are?”

 

“Aren’t you?”

 

“The night is too young to already be exhausted,” Sharon retorted, watching how a conspiring grin broke out across Brenda’s face.

 

“Did you have anything in mind?” she asked as rolled on top of Sharon, getting rid of her bra as she did.

 

“Maybe,” Sharon replied as she moved her hands up to cup Brenda’s breasts. The night was still young.

 

_Day Seven, Sunday_

 

Brenda blinked sleepily when the first light came through her window. It was still too early to get up and make breakfast. As she rolled on her side, she smiled at the sight before her. Sharon was lying on her stomach, her hair fanned out on the pillow, a small smile tugging on her lips as she slept.

 

The weak morning light shined on Sharon’s bare back, giving the pale skin a slightly orange tint. Brenda softly traced the brunette’s spine, caressing the soft spin, quickly pulling her hand back when Sharon shifted under her touch. She didn’t want to wake her up just yet. She had never seen the Captain quite as peaceful as she was here, sleeping in Brenda’s bed.

 

Propping her head up on her elbow, Brenda dragged her eyes over the woman’s sleeping form from the edge of the covers that rest on the small of the woman’s back to her face. Even without her make-up and with her hair not brushed and not straightened, Sharon still managed to take her breath away.

 

“You’re staring at me,” Sharon murmured and opened her eyes, the green too vibrant for someone who had just woken up.

 

“So I am,” Brenda replied and grinned, blushing for having been caught.

 

“Any particular reason for that?”

 

“No. Just admiring what I have in my bed.”

 

“Are you willing to keep it there?” Sharon asked, lifting her head just a little, a few locks of hair spilling onto her back. Brenda’s fingers ached to push them away and feel the soft skin under her fingertips.

 

“Yes, I think so.”

 

“Good. Now can you lie back down again and try to get some more sleep? It’s a Sunday and I plan on sleeping in,” Sharon said, her voice sounding a lot like her captain Raydor voice when she was barking orders, but Brenda could see that she was already falling back to sleep.

 

“Yes, ma’am,” she whispered with a smile.

 

“Thank you.” With a grin Brenda laid back down on the bed, wrapping an arm around Sharon’s waist until her back was flush against her front, enjoying the feeling of skin against skin. Softly she kissed Sharon’s shoulder before burying her face in the thick locks of brown hair. This was bliss.

 


End file.
